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Hawaii birding trip -Scope? Which islands? (1 Viewer)

leightern

Member
All,

If anyone asked me a month ago if I would ever go to Hawaii I would have laughed and said "not me".... but here I am planning a trip to Hawaii this July and I am steadily becomming more and more excited about the birds and birding. However, I am hearing lots of warnings about folks getting robbed. Which makes me wonder if anyone has some insight on this issue. I own a new Swarovski scope and an older Nikon RC and am considering taking the Nikon because of the constant drumming I keep hearing about thieves among the tourist info I read. Anybody have a different view or a firsthand experience regarding birding in Hawaii. I will be spending one week in Oahu and several days on the big Island and then on to Kunaii (spelling ?) for two days. How difficult is it to travel with scope by air these days anyway?

Any tips about birding Hawaii in general would be most welcomed especially which Islands were the most productive and/or easiest to bird etc etc... seems like there are lots of areas that are difficult to access due to restrictions of one sort or another....

I have 2 of Doug Pratts books on Hawaii - one is a site guide which is excellent and the other is a comprehensive field guide on the birds of the South Pacific and Hawaii..... I forget the exact titles.
I would like to get a CD with the bird songs.... any recommendations? any other books out there I should buy?????

Thanks in advance!

Sincerely,
L
 
leightern said:
All,

If anyone asked me a month ago if I would ever go to Hawaii I would have laughed and said "not me".... but here I am planning a trip to Hawaii this July and I am steadily becomming more and more excited about the birds and birding. However, I am hearing lots of warnings about folks getting robbed. Which makes me wonder if anyone has some insight on this issue. I own a new Swarovski scope and an older Nikon RC and am considering taking the Nikon because of the constant drumming I keep hearing about thieves among the tourist info I read. Anybody have a different view or a firsthand experience regarding birding in Hawaii. I will be spending one week in Oahu and several days on the big Island and then on to Kunaii (spelling ?) for two days. How difficult is it to travel with scope by air these days anyway?

Any tips about birding Hawaii in general would be most welcomed especially which Islands were the most productive and/or easiest to bird etc etc... seems like there are lots of areas that are difficult to access due to restrictions of one sort or another....

I have 2 of Doug Pratts books on Hawaii - one is a site guide which is excellent and the other is a comprehensive field guide on the birds of the South Pacific and Hawaii..... I forget the exact titles.
I would like to get a CD with the bird songs.... any recommendations? any other books out there I should buy?????

Thanks in advance!

Sincerely,
L

L,

To see most of the endemic birds you should visit the Big Island, Maui, Kauai and Oahu. The first three are by far the best but to get the most out of a trip you will need to do a lot of research and plan very carefully; access to some areas, e.g. best Akepa sites on BI, Waikamoi boardwalk on Maui(Akohekohe) require advanced booking. My advice would be to ignore the introduced species but if you are keen on your US list you may not agree!

I woud recommend taking your best scope - although for most of the passerines binoculars are sufficient, for seabirds and stunning views of the endemics, a good scope is recommended.

Good luck

Alan lewis
UK
 
Hawaii- take scope?

Thanks for the info! I was sorry to hear that Oahu is the least important bird wise as it is on that island I will probably be for the majority of the trip. It is a not strictly a bird trip and some of the time will be spent doing more family oriented things such as swimming, snorkeling. Which means that my optics will have to be in the car unattended for hours while we do the more traditional tourist stuff. I will be on Oahu four or 5 days and I would like to spend at least 3 days on the big island. After that I can't decide whether to do just Kauai or try to get both Kauai and Maui into itenerary. I am leaning towards leaving Maui out completely to avoid spending too much time just traveling. When you speak of advance booking do you mean that you must use a guide to access these sites? Do you think this is more of an issue with Maui than Kauai?


To see most of the endemic birds you should visit the Big Island, Maui, Kauai and Oahu. The first three are by far the best but to get the most out of a trip you will need to do a lot of research and plan very carefully; access to some areas, e.g. best Akepa sites on BI, Waikamoi boardwalk on Maui(Akohekohe) require advanced booking. My advice would be to ignore the introduced species but if you are keen on your US list you may not agree!

I woud recommend taking your best scope - although for most of the passerines binoculars are sufficient, for seabirds and stunning views of the endemics, a good scope is recommended.

Good luck

Alan lewis
UK[/QUOTE]
 
I highly recommend A Birdwatcher's Guide to Hawaii by Rick Soehren. It has detailed descriptions of many places to go on each of the islands. I second the recommendation to PM bkrownd to learn about birding on the Big Island. If you go to the Big Island, ignore the rental car prohibition on the saddle road. It is really just another well paved road and the best birding spots on the Big Island are there - Pu'u La'au for Palila (but not much else) and the Pu'u O'o and Powerline Trails for 'Apapane, 'I'iwi, Oma'o, Amakihi, and possible Creeper, 'Akepa, and 'Akiapola'au.

Although I haven't visited Oahu, I expect your scope would come in handy when looking for sea birds. Endemic land birds are tough there, but you can see water birds and a zoo of introduced species. If you go to Kauai, do not miss Kilauea Point NWR if you want nice views of Red-footed Booby, Red-tailed Tropicbird, White-tailed Tropicbird, Great Frigatebird, Wedge-tailed Shearwater (may be visible in burrows), and Laysan Albatross. The Alaka'i Swamp is excellent for Kauai endemics, but that is a long day of driving and then hiking to get into the swamp, so it might not be compatible with a family vacation.

leightern said:
All,

If anyone asked me a month ago if I would ever go to Hawaii I would have laughed and said "not me".... but here I am planning a trip to Hawaii this July and I am steadily becomming more and more excited about the birds and birding. However, I am hearing lots of warnings about folks getting robbed. Which makes me wonder if anyone has some insight on this issue. I own a new Swarovski scope and an older Nikon RC and am considering taking the Nikon because of the constant drumming I keep hearing about thieves among the tourist info I read. Anybody have a different view or a firsthand experience regarding birding in Hawaii. I will be spending one week in Oahu and several days on the big Island and then on to Kunaii (spelling ?) for two days. How difficult is it to travel with scope by air these days anyway?

Any tips about birding Hawaii in general would be most welcomed especially which Islands were the most productive and/or easiest to bird etc etc... seems like there are lots of areas that are difficult to access due to restrictions of one sort or another....

I have 2 of Doug Pratts books on Hawaii - one is a site guide which is excellent and the other is a comprehensive field guide on the birds of the South Pacific and Hawaii..... I forget the exact titles.
I would like to get a CD with the bird songs.... any recommendations? any other books out there I should buy?????

Thanks in advance!

Sincerely,
L
 
Kilauea Point

Is Kilauea Point the best spot for pelagic birds in Hawaii or are there several places to look for Pelagic birds? I would consider the whole trip a success if I see an Albatross! I checked out the bkrond thread.... seems like there is a lot of good info there!

Thanks!

:D




emupilot said:
I highly recommend A Birdwatcher's Guide to Hawaii by Rick Soehren. It has detailed descriptions of many places to go on each of the islands. I second the recommendation to PM bkrownd to learn about birding on the Big Island. If you go to the Big Island, ignore the rental car prohibition on the saddle road. It is really just another well paved road and the best birding spots on the Big Island are there - Pu'u La'au for Palila (but not much else) and the Pu'u O'o and Powerline Trails for 'Apapane, 'I'iwi, Oma'o, Amakihi, and possible Creeper, 'Akepa, and 'Akiapola'au.

Although I haven't visited Oahu, I expect your scope would come in handy when looking for sea birds. Endemic land birds are tough there, but you can see water birds and a zoo of introduced species. If you go to Kauai, do not miss Kilauea Point NWR if you want nice views of Red-footed Booby, Red-tailed Tropicbird, White-tailed Tropicbird, Great Frigatebird, Wedge-tailed Shearwater (may be visible in burrows), and Laysan Albatross. The Alaka'i Swamp is excellent for Kauai endemics, but that is a long day of driving and then hiking to get into the swamp, so it might not be compatible with a family vacation.
 
Kilauea Point has the easiest pelagic bird viewing in Hawaii, and I'm pretty sure Laysan Albatross is only there and at Barking Sands (southwest Kauai) on the main islands. Everything (including the albatross) except for the shearwater is easy at Kilauea Point. The shearwaters will be in their burrows right at your feet, but they might not be close enough to the entrance to see them. There are seabird colonies on islands off Oahu, which may include additional species, but I don't know how good the access and views are. Kilauea Point is a peninsula ringed by cliffs. Tropicbirds, boobies, and frigatebirds often float in the wind right above you. The two times I've been there, the albatrosses were either floating a couple hundred feet up or zooming by quickly down low. I was told that you can see the actual albatross colony on a hillside, but I wasn't able to see that. I almost forgot: Kilauea Point also has Nene, and they are easy to see at close range as the graze on the grass. It is an extremely pleasant spot to go birding!

Other than Kauai and Oahu, the only sea birds you have a chance at seeing (and not necessarily a good chance) would be boobies, frigatebirds, or noddies passing by the shore. Here is a good comprehensive website for Hawaii's land and sea birds.

leightern said:
Is Kilauea Point the best spot for pelagic birds in Hawaii or are there several places to look for Pelagic birds? I would consider the whole trip a success if I see an Albatross! I checked out the bkrond thread.... seems like there is a lot of good info there!

Thanks!

:D
 
Thanks for setting me straight on the best spot for pelagics. I seem to be getting some conflicting info on the chances of seeing a Laysan Albatross at the end of July. What time of year were you in Hawaii??? Doug Pratt's book indicates that it is still possible and the web page you mentioned in your post (which is most excellent!) also indicates that it is still possible to see these birds but an email from a local guide says that the Albatross's have left by end of July. So not sure how deflated I should be over that but nonetheless it will be a good trip. Probably silly to focus too much on the sea birds when the native Hawai'i birds are the ones that are facing extinction and which can not be seen anywhere else..... still an Albatross is significant bird and it captures the imagination or at least my imagination in a way that honeycreepers have not ...as yet.....
I am ordering the guide you mentioned and also some bird tapes to learn the vocals.
Nobody so far has suggested that robbery is such a big deal.... and everyone seems to think a good scope would be worth taking. .... ...

Sincerely,

LT

emupilot said:
Kilauea Point has the easiest pelagic bird viewing in Hawaii, and I'm pretty sure Laysan Albatross is only there and at Barking Sands (southwest Kauai) on the main islands. Everything (including the albatross) except for the shearwater is easy at Kilauea Point. The shearwaters will be in their burrows right at your feet, but they might not be close enough to the entrance to see them. There are seabird colonies on islands off Oahu, which may include additional species, but I don't know how good the access and views are. Kilauea Point is a peninsula ringed by cliffs. Tropicbirds, boobies, and frigatebirds often float in the wind right above you. The two times I've been there, the albatrosses were either floating a couple hundred feet up or zooming by quickly down low. I was told that you can see the actual albatross colony on a hillside, but I wasn't able to see that. I almost forgot: Kilauea Point also has Nene, and they are easy to see at close range as the graze on the grass. It is an extremely pleasant spot to go birding!

Other than Kauai and Oahu, the only sea birds you have a chance at seeing (and not necessarily a good chance) would be boobies, frigatebirds, or noddies passing by the shore. Here is a good comprehensive website for Hawaii's land and sea birds.
 
Checking the book I recommended, it agrees that the Albatross are gone by the end of July, so I guess there would be a risk of missing them if you're coming in the latter part of the month. I saw them in late November (soon after they arrive) and in March. A visit to Kilauea Point would be great even without the Albatross, but sadly with limited time one must prioritize. I'm a big fan of the native forest birds - there isn't alot of variety, but some are spectacular and/or have very small ranges. My favorite spot for them has to be a kipuka (island of forest in a lava field) on the Pu'u O'o Trail on the Big Island, which jumping with bird songs from just 5 species. bkrownd can give you good advice for the Big Island forest birds.

There's a Laysan Albatross that spends its winters in a harbor about 200 miles from where I live in northern California. I haven't managed to go visit it yet (and this is its 14th year there), but I keep looking for a good excuse!

I never worried about getting robbed at birding spots - just the tourist spots!

Good luck!

leightern said:
Thanks for setting me straight on the best spot for pelagics. I seem to be getting some conflicting info on the chances of seeing a Laysan Albatross at the end of July. What time of year were you in Hawaii??? Doug Pratt's book indicates that it is still possible and the web page you mentioned in your post (which is most excellent!) also indicates that it is still possible to see these birds but an email from a local guide says that the Albatross's have left by end of July. So not sure how deflated I should be over that but nonetheless it will be a good trip. Probably silly to focus too much on the sea birds when the native Hawai'i birds are the ones that are facing extinction and which can not be seen anywhere else..... still an Albatross is significant bird and it captures the imagination or at least my imagination in a way that honeycreepers have not ...as yet.....
I am ordering the guide you mentioned and also some bird tapes to learn the vocals.
Nobody so far has suggested that robbery is such a big deal.... and everyone seems to think a good scope would be worth taking. .... ...

Sincerely,

LT
 
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